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Miners tired of company homes formed McAdoo

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With help from a coal company, they found it well over a century ago when Polish immigrants who worked in the mines grew tired of living in company houses at Honey Brook and Audenried.

McAdoo borough was born when Lehigh and Wilkes-Barre Coal Co. set aside a tract of land in northern Schuylkill County for employees to build their own homes.

The coal company was more than willing to develop the land for the new settlers after discovering coal deposits beneath the company homes.

Present-day McAdoo began as the small village of Pleasant Hill and evolved over the years into a community named after former U.S. Sen. and Postmaster General William G. McAdoo.

Its earliest inhabitants arrived in 1880 from southern Poland. They settled on land known as Skipper’s Island in the eastern part of the community.

Other locals emigrated to McAdoo from a settlement known as Slabtown, which was a mile north of McAdoo and east of Audenried.

Early settlers also developed lots along Tamaqua Street, known today as Kennedy Drive.

McAdoo was incorporated as a borough on July 10, 1896, after residents banded together to bring law and order to a town that lacked decorum.

A year prior to incorporation, the Hazleton Sentinel published an eye-opening account from an unidentified “gentleman.” In the news article, the man described chaotic times while explaining why he felt incorporation and the installation of local government was imperative.

“We need a borough government and we need it badly,” the man told the Sentinel on Oct. 31, 1895. “Why, it would be the forerunner to the inauguration of a new era. It would convert the place from a degenerating village into an active, progressive town. Here we are with a population of nearly 3,000 people. Every man takes a hand in the management of affairs.”

The man told the newspaper that the town lacked order and decorum.

“Occasionally, the native goes on the rampage,” the man continued. “He is not only endangering himself but the people who happen to come in contact with him. Had we an appointed officer, or burgess, this kind of thing would find its limit. At present there is no limit, and at times riot runs rampant.”

“Then again, we have no laws, no sanitation, no streets, no paves, no sewers, no lights. Why, the place is in deplorable condition, viewing it from a sanitary standpoint.”

A borough council would solve many of the community’s problems and would lead to the creation of a board of health, he said.

“Our people are progressive and enterprising, they have been so long without any system in town affairs, however, that it may take a little spurring to arouse them from the lethargy into which they have fallen.”

Moving forward

Early attempts to incorporate McAdoo as a borough stalled, but a group of residents committed to the concept pursued it until it became reality.

Organizers who supported the movement to have the town of Pleasant Hill, or “MacAdoo,” incorporated into a borough included T.A. Kelley, John H. Bernard, Stephen A. Pare, Patrick McNelis, James J. Stapleton, Joseph Gerendt, Stanley Anilosky, Michael McGee and Charles McGee.

They secured more than 700 signatures on a petition but that effort lost steam, according to the 1895 news account.

“It is to be regretted that the movement was not kept up. MacAdoo is a thriving town. It is populated with a progressive people and is growing larger every day. To the casual visitor the number of new housing going up over there is astounding.

“MacAdoo should become a borough government by all means. It is to be hoped that the men who took the initiative and carried the matter thus far, will again take it up and carry it to a successful issue.”

On May 4, 1896, a petition was presented to the Pottsville court, with a request to incorporate the village of McAdoo into a borough.

Prior to presenting the petition, Thomas A. Kelly appeared before notary public Frank Bruno, of Kline Township. Kelly said he circulated the petition and collected 160 signatures. Those signatures represented three-quarters of the townspeople.

John W. Honsberger, who was solicitor for the petitioners, presented the document to the courts.

The application for incorporation was published in the McAdoo Tidings, a semi-weekly newspaper that was printed in McAdoo by Ed J. Brennan, its editor.

On July 10, 1896, Judge Cyrus L. Pershing issued a decree that granted a charter for McAdoo borough. The courts also named McAdoo a separate election district and separate school district.

An election board was appointed and a special election for officers was held July 28 at the Grant Street schoolhouse in McAdoo.

“The success of the movement is very gratifying to the people,” The Plain Speaker reported. “Some opposition was made by the politicians and saloonists, yet it was unsuccessful.”

Progress continued over the next few weeks, as residents held a hotly contested election on July 28, 1896, that resulted in near fights and one arrest, according to a news report.

Citizens elected their first set of officers for the newly incorporated borough.

Competing political factions, known as the People’s Party and the Citizens’ ticket, ran candidates.

At least 260 votes were cast and fighting nearly broke out during elections.

“Numerous fistic encounters were threatened throughout the day but were prevented by the interference of friends,” The Plain Speaker reported.

James McDonald was elected burgess.

The Plain Speaker also reported that Thomas O’Donnell, People’s candidate for chief burgess, would be arrested on a charge of assault and battery.

This article first appeared in the Standard-Speaker on Nov. 21, 2013, as part of the “Our Towns” series.

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